LG unveils super thin television at Consumer Electronics Show

LG has unveiled a new television thinner than four credit cards at the world’s largest technology expo in Las Vegas. See the pics.

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson in Las Vegas

News Corp Australia NetworkJanuary 6, 20168:00am

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TELEVISIONS thinner than the cords they connect to and smart enough to let you unlock the front door were on show in Las Vegas today at the world’s largest technology expo.

The big names in home entertainment revealed big plans for the biggest screen in the house at the Consumer Electronics Show, and their focus was on super sleek designs, smart features and brighter, Ultra High-Definition displays.

Plus, Australian consumers will only have to wait four months to get their hands on some of the technology.

LG captured attention early at CES today by showcasing a new OLED television just 2.57mm thin or as thin as a stack of four credit cards, according to LG marketing vice-president David VanderWaal.

“It’s quite literally a panel on glass,” he said. “There’s nothing at all to distract the viewer from the picture.”

The 77-inch television, part of LG’s new Signature series, also features a speaker that acts as a stand for the slender screen. It is tipped to launch with a price under $US10,000 this year, though LG has yet to confirm if it will arrive in Australia.

Super sleek ... the new LG television is “quite literally a panel on glass”. Picture: AFP/Robyn BeckSource:AFP

Samsung also revealed its new generation of top-of-the-line SUHD television at CES, offering more colours, contrast and brighter screens.

But it’s the inclusion of a smarthome hub inside each Samsung SUHD television that is bound to draw attention.

Using this hub, Samsung TV owners will be able control internet-connected devices from the TV itself — everything from “household appliances to security devices to baby monitors,” according to SmartThings chief executive Alex Hawkinson.

Mr Hawkinson said making the television the “control centre for your smarthome” would make the technology more accessible and user-friendly, encouraging its wider adoption.

“The SmartThings platform and Samsung TVs have merged to simplify the future of home entertainment and the smart home,” he said.

“And this isn’t the distant future we’re talking about. This is what you can have right now in your home in 2016.”

The company showed how the TV’s smart hub feature could monitor a home’s front door via a connected camera and unlock it by pushing a button on the TV remote control.

Selecting the TV’s ‘Cinema Mode’ could also dim the lounge room’s internet-connected lights in preparation for a film screening.

Samsung Australia chief marketing officer Phil Newton said compatible smart devices were already in the Australian market and Samsung would also launch its SmartThings range locally this year, from motion detectors to cameras.

But while the smart hub was “a unique feature,” Mr Newton said most TV buyers would be more interested in the clarity and colours of the SUHD screens when they launched in May.